


He Might Not Be Okay...

by AnimeYaoiFangirl100



Series: We're Going To Be Okay... I Think [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 15:29:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeYaoiFangirl100/pseuds/AnimeYaoiFangirl100
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>North worries about the newest Guardian, Jack. It's pretty clear that Jack doesn't want to be alone but he just won't let them in. Old St. Nick just wants to help him, but it might just take the help of one of his oldest believes to make him understand. Understand that all Jack needs is to be understood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Might Not Be Okay...

Jack Frost wasn’t okay.

He said that he was, but he truly wasn’t okay.

This simple fact was something that he had to deal with on his own. He knew that the other Guardians - Bunny, even! - would at least listen to him. Or maybe they wouldn’t... Maybe he was just hoping that they would.

It had been a month since they defeated Pitch and you’d think that would be enough time for things like this, right? Wrong. He had been alone for 300 years; one doesn’t simply forget about all that. It was different. Being with the Guardians... It felt right, but.. He couldn’t let them see his facade dropped. He couldn’t trust them to listen to him when he needed them to.

He couldn’t afford to.

After all, centuries of being alone and ignored wasn’t something he could ignore. They had ignored him and he wasn’t going to forget that. They had also sent him away without an explanation when they all needed each other most. They tossed him aside when they thought that he had helped Pitch... Or, he assumed that was what they had thought. Jack couldn’t bring himself to ask what they had thought of him. They had known that he was with Pitch, but they didn’t want to hear why he was with him; why he hadn’t been there to stop the King of Nightmares from destroying the eggs.

Even if he had wanted to talk to them, he couldn’t for that simple reason. He was sure that they still didn’t trust him. The thought tugged at his cold heart. Jack knew that they all felt guilty about it. North and Tooth openly showed it while Bunny tried to hide it, but the Winter spirit knew better than that. It said it in his emerald green eyes. The only one who didn’t feel guilty about it was Sandy.. And that was because he hadn’t been there. Once he had found out about all that had happened in his absence, he had been extremely upset with the the other three Guardians. 

Even though Jack wouldn’t admit it openly, that had touched him. He really did like the Guardians; even Bunnymund, though he was still a pain. He was more fun to mess with than anything. Having Sandy angry at the others on his account was oddly reassuring...

The sprite shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts. He noticed the other four spirits looking at him with a mix of emotions. That’s when he noticed that he should have been paying attention to the conversation at hand. He found that they got together more often since they had defeated Pitch, but less and less every time. Jack thought that it was just because they were trying to get everything back to the way it was before Pitch and his scheming.

That thought also stung a little because if that was what they wanted they would have to get rid of him in order to get it back to exactly the way it had been.

“What?” Jack plastered the small grin on his face that he normally had. It was just his normal facial expression. It was his default setting.

“Were you even listening, Jack?” Tooth asked in slight concern and Baby Tooth - who had been perched on her Queen’s shoulder - fluttered over to him. She had taken quite a shine to him, as had all of Toothiana’s helpers.

“Of course.” In truth, he had been drifting in and out. Of course he had been in an unusually long train of depressing thought. All aboard the depression train... There are rarely any stops.

“What were we just discussing then, mate?” Bunnymund questioned, one of the ears on his head twitching as if he was sure that the Winter sprite hadn’t been paying any attention.

“About Christmas and how it’s way better than Easter.” Said sprite said in a cocky manner as he grinned. It was clear to the others that there was something slightly off about it. Nobody, however, dared to question it. Bunnymund really didn’t want to get a snarky remark back. Okay, it wasn’t that. The Pooka wouldn’t have cared but both Tooth and Sandy were sending him looks that clearly said not to start another argument with the newest Guardian. Even though it was pretty clear that he had been severely ticked off.

“Now, now.” North stated jovially. He was acting like the remark amused him and that didn’t help Bunnymund, for he already knew that the Guardian of Wonder already thought his holiday more important than Easter. “Let us talk about celebration! Not spend time fighting.” He was in a very jolly mood because he was actually getting ready to do his job. His very important job that he loved almost too much.

“Yeah, listen to him, Kangaroo.” Bunnymund turned his emerald eyes on the Guardian with a glare once more as he stood up, stretched, and started to walk off; swinging his staff as he walked and freezing the feet of a couple elves to the floor. “Fighting doesn’t make for a good bunny, as you claim to be.”

“Jack, where are you going?” Tooth asked, tilting her head to the side a little. She was watching the spirit make his way out of the room and she couldn’t help but feel that something was off. It was more her maternal instincts, but they had never been wrong before. Then again, it might have been just the weather. Though, she was sure that she wasn’t the only one who had noticed something.

“Out for a bit.” The teenager - that was what he was, despite being 300 years old - said. “I need to cool down a little. It’s a little warm in here for my taste.” And then he was off before any of them could get a word in.

“No good.” North sighed as he watched Jack take off. He wanted to go after the youngest Guardian, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He had no idea where Jack was going and he would have a job to do in just a few hours. He would just have to keep an eye open for the Guardian of Fun on his route.

“He’ll be fine, mate.” The Guardian of Hope murmured, but just one look at him gave away how worried he was for his friend. North could call them friends because they seemed to have grown closer in the short time that Jack had been a Guardian; even though the fights still happened almost constantly.

“You are right.” The Russian nodded before walking off in the opposite direction that the Winter sprite had taken. He had to check on some things. “Be back later.” He murmured. “Make sure everything is ready.”

\----

North frowned a little but that quickly left as a small smile took its place. At first he had thought that the only girl living in this house had forgotten about him; stopped believing. It wouldn’t have been that surprising considering how old the child was. It wasn’t uncommon for teenagers and adults to believe in the legends, but it wasn’t terribly common either. He was happy to find out that she hadn’t forgotten after all. Why she had put the cookies in her room, he was still trying to figure out.

Why she had put a sign saying the cookies were in her room seemed like more trouble. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just put the cookies out where the sign was?

Odds were North would have ventured into her room anyway. Old St. Nick didn’t make a habit of it, but he had exceptions. This girl was one of them. He tended to check in on his older believers because the longer they believed, the stronger the bond he had with them; even if he had never met them face to face. It was better that way, actually. If he did talk with them, he would get way more attached than he should have. Maybe even get as attached as to treat them like his own. Like he wanted to treat Jack...

He shook that thought away. This was his last stop. He just needed to finish up here and then he could go search for the boy.

The Russian was careful when he opened the door. Normally he would have just stuck his head in to check in on her before taking his leave. Tonight though, he wouldn’t. He had time for a longer visit, seeing as it was his last stop. That, and the cookies she had made for him were in her room. 

Home-made cookies were far better than store bought and he greatly appreciated that she made them from scratch instead of buying them. Or even making them from a mix like some other people had been known to. It was a nice change and always made his smile bigger. However, he always ate all the other cookies, whether they were bought or not. One was not simply picky about cookies.

Slowly and quietly, North stepped over to the plate of what looked like Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. He took one off the plate and took a bite before he bothered to look at the room he was in. He always liked looking at the rooms so that he felt like he was watching the child grow up. The rooms always seemed to be changing. He also found himself enjoying what caught his eye first. 

This time, it happened to be the teenager that was slumped against a desk.

The brunette was a sweet girl from what he had heard. Well, not just heard. He had also seen how sweet she was. She was always willing to help others if she could; even if they didn’t treat her the same.

She was wearing her pajamas - or, what he assumed to be her pajamas - and she looked so innocent at that moment. She looked so peaceful; not getting weighed down by the days trials. Even though he wanted to believe that the young human was completely innocent, he couldn’t. He knew better. The only innocent thing in a human life was a newborn child. Even the small children who hadn’t done anything weren’t truly innocent, but that was because of the adults around them. It was always the hardest to believe that when he saw them like this.

Sleeping; seemingly innocent; peaceful; full of hope... All these things described how Gwendolyn Mae Frost looked at that very moment. She reminded him of how Jack looked when he slept. It was no wonder... They were both teenagers. He also found the irony in the fact that they both had the same last name.

North blew out a breath of air slowly. He was working, he didn’t need to be thinking about Jack. He needed to be thinking about all the children. Though, technically, Jack was still a child. Only a little older than the girl that was in front of him. He understood that he didn’t need to be thinking about Jack, but he couldn’t stop himself.

As he grabbed onto the last cookie a sheet of paper under the plate caught his eye. He gently tugged it out from underneath the piece of glass before examining it. A note? It was addressed to him.. Was this why she had him go to her room? Because she wanted to tell him something? That would be a good enough reason. At least she was a bright enough girl to know that she wouldn’t be able to stay up to see him.

_Dear Santa(St. Nick, Kris Cringle, or whatever you want to go by),_

Despite himself, North found himself grinning at that. He went by many names, that was true, but not many children called him anything other than Santa. And in a way that only this girl could muster, she had made something sound both formal, and non-caring at the same time.

_I know that you are getting this at Christmas instead of before like you should, but this is important. It is about what I want for Christmas - whoops! Bad word. Oh well. I doubt you care too much anyway. I know it’s late, so sorry. I am also sorry about leaving the cookies in here. Or else my parents would have taken this note along with the cookies, read it, and then committed me to therapy again. I didn’t mean for it to be an inconvenience. My parents insisted that I only wanted the cookies in here so that I could eat them myself. Sometimes they are just plain hopeless._

_For this very special holiday I only want one thing. It isn’t something that is easily given, but I really wish that it was. It would make life a whole lot better, you know? But, then again, I guess life isn’t meant to be easy. It’s full of stressful things to challenge you... But I want one thing from you. One thing that I wish I wouldn’t have to ask for. I want you to understand. All I want is understanding for Christmas._

_You see, I’m asking you to understand. Not just me but all teenagers. I always have to wonder, especially lately, if you understand us. You understand children but that’s just it; children. We aren’t children. We are but we aren’t. Teenagers are completely misunderstood. People keep saying that we’ll mess up because we are teenagers. Everyone makes bad decisions; not just people of my age group. So, I ask of you, to at least try and see our point of view. It’s not like we mean to be anything but good... It’s just how we are made._

_Now, if you didn’t already, you can say that you gladly understand teenagers. Did you know that we have a secret language? Well, it’s not very secret.. If only people knew how to listen closely enough... Even the adults know the language, but they push it to the back of their minds because they don’t think that their kid(s) will ever feel the need to say those things. That’s how they’re wrong. Every teenager out there feels like that at least once. Every child turns into a teenager and every teenager wants to be a child again. To be back when their biggest problem was getting scolded by the teacher. Now everything has changed and we don’t know what to do with ourselves. We don’t know what we are meant to do. We don’t know what we need to do. We don’t know why we get ridiculed._

_When we just want to be understood, we just don’t know._

_That’s why I turn to you, Father Christmas(I suddenly remembered another one of your many names!). You judge people, I’m sure, but I’m also sure that you are open-minded. You have to be, right? You’re a spirit for crying out loud! So.. How about you listen and at least try your best to understand? Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m going to write down some of the things we say but mean other things, but it’s the best I can do for now. After all, you watch children all the time, right? I wonder if you do that for us too..._

_I’m fine. = **I’m not fine. Please help me.**_

_I’m just tired. = **I can’t take this anymore.**_

_I already ate. = **I starve myself.**_

_Go away. = **Show me you care enough to stay.**_

_I’m just cold. = **I don’t want you to see my scars.**_

_I’m better, I promise. = **I’ve never been this bad.**_

_I’m okay. = **I just want to die.**_

_Like I said; I’m not sure why I think you will understand, but I hope that you will. I shared with you some of our language and I wish for you to keep the knowledge close. I hope that it will help you understand why we are how we are. After all, understanding us is all I want for Christmas._

_Sincerely,  
Gwendolyn Mae Frost_

_P.S. I’m sorry that I couldn’t write this out. My handwriting gets sloppy when I’m tired, and I type a lot faster than I can write. I’m sure that you understand._

North was busy staring at the teen as she continued to snore softly into her arms. What she had wrote shocked him. It wasn’t the fact that she kept saying ‘us’ instead of ‘I’ but because of something much different. She made a good point. He didn’t spend much time watching the children once they had graduated to their teenage years. That being said, he didn’t understand them too well. That was a small part of it, but that wasn’t it. She might not have meant to do it, but she had helped him. 

She had given him the chance to understand Jack. Because, no matter how many centuries he had been on the Earth, he was just a teenager. He had been 18 when the Man in the Moon made him into a spirit. He had been reluctant to share much of anything with the other Guardians. Sometimes it made them all wonder.

The Guardian of Wonder smiled fondly at the 16-year-old before softly placing a large hand upon her head. He needn't have worried about waking her; she was out like a light as soon as Sandy’s sand had hit her. That was a good thing, for North wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from showing affection to the older child.

“Thank you, Gwen.” He said. Even if he would have whispered, his voice still would have echoed in the room. “Thank you.” Though, he didn’t know how else to thank her. He wanted to give her something so that she could remember him; he thought that she earned it. He scratched at his chin for a moment before taking out a small orb and placing it on the desk in front of her.

He also took a piece of paper and a pen off her desk. The Russian doubted that she would mind too much. After all, the note that he was writing was for her. Hopefully she enjoyed the gift and put it to some good use.

After all, he wouldn’t mind too much when it came time for her to actually use it.

\---

“Today is wonderful day!” The jolly spirit announced as he hurried into his large living room. It had to be large in order for the yeti’s, toys, and the large globe in it. Well, it wasn’t his actual living area. He was working on a different room for that for the times that any of the Guardians needed to be away from the bustling yeti’s.

“Why is that, mate?” Bunny voiced and a question mark appeared over Sandman’s head. Tooth, on the other hand, was wondering the same, but seeing as she was giving order to her fairies, she couldn’t very well ask what was going on.

“I know how to understand Jack!” He laughed in reply. St. Nick had made sure that Jack wasn’t in the room when he said this. It would have ended badly, he was sure.

“Oh really?” The Easter Bunny sounded skeptic but the thought enticed Tooth, who had just sent her little minions off. 

“Really?” Her question sounded much more believable than the Pooka’s had. “That’s great!” Even Sandman looked excited by this news.

“Of course! We must understand language!” Of course he was meaning Jack’s language. Though, the others were slightly puzzled, only Tooth said something about it.

“Understand what, North? Jack speaks our language..” She trailed off. “Sure, he speaks to the Winds, but that isn’t something we are meant to understand.” North suddenly realized that they had no clue about his train of thought because they hadn’t thought about him being a teenager much, like him.

“No, no.” The Russian shook his head slightly. “He is teenager. Despite him being centuries old, that will not change. Jack is still teenager. That makes him still child.”

It dawned on them all then that they hadn’t thought about it like that before. Sure, they had known Jack was young when he was made into a spirit, but that didn’t mean anything. They had just wrongly assumed that he would be mature because he was over 300-years-old.

“North, mate, what are ya meanin’?” Bunny asked first.

“What I said. He is teenager. All teenagers have problems. They hide themselves behind words.”

“So, he’s just like a normal teenager now?” Tooth asked. It was clear that those weren’t just her words. She had been watching Sandy as he made his shapes out of sand. She was getting pretty good at reading what he was saying, when she was looking at him.

“Indeed.” Was all North said.

“Oi, how did ya come up with this? Just pop in yer head or somethin’?” The thick Australian accent started to show itself once more as the Pooka spoke up. There were times where it would just go in and out. Times like this, when he was thinking about Jack in any way, it would get worse. Other times it was just a random, daily occurrence. However, North was sure that it wasn’t because they were talking about the Winter spirit this time.

“Gwen Mae Frost.”

“Who?” The name rang a small bell for Tooth, but she was more confused about the last name. She was used to that name being tagged onto the end of ‘Jack’. 

“She left good note. Very helpful.” He was grinning again as he thought of the girl. He was surprised that she had thought so much, and put so much of her thoughts into a letter to him. He was happy that she had, however. It was very helpful.

“A note? And how come I’ve never heard you mention her before? Have I collected any teeth from her recently?” Her questions raced past her mouth as quickly as they could as she floated restlessly around.

“Not recently, I’m sure.” Santa laughed again before shaking his head. “One of oldest believers. Gwen is 16.” That took the Guardians by surprise because no more questions were immediately asked, and - even if they were - he carried on like nothing had happened. “She left note. Very helpful one.”

“I’m assuming you gave her something special as a gift then?” Tooth asked after a moment. Maybe this note had helped his thought process? That might have been why he was acting like this.. Again. Then again, he could have just had too many cookies again. That had not been a fun night...

“Of course!” A large grin plastered itself on his face. “Left her traveling orb.”

The rest of the Guardians had certainly not been expecting that.

“You what?!” Bunny yelped and Sandy’s sand was taking five new shapes every moment. Tooth was just staring at the large spirit as if he had sprouted another head. Actually, that wouldn’t be completely unheard of... There was Agni.... Which had been a very odd experience to witness. Tooth never wanted to witness again.

“I..” North shrugged. “.. Gave her traveling orb. Small one. Can only come to Santoff Claussen. Oh! Left her note as well.”

“North, why did you give her an orb that would lead her here?” Tooth finally asked. It had taken a little bit of concentration, but she had managed to compose herself enough to speak.

“I would be interested in talking with her.” Was all he said with another, smaller, shrug of his shoulders. “Might be more helpful. Seems like nice girl.”

“We aren’t supposed to bring children here, mate.”

“Teenagers may be children, but not so much so that they can’t be here.” North nodded as if someone had agreed with him. All of the Guardians actually agreed, but they still thought it was a bit odd to give the child a way into the heart of the North Pole.

“So... Ya want her to visit?” The Pooka asked and it had North nodding.

“Talking with her might be good.” He stated before a small smile graced his lips. “It might be good for Jack too. To talk to another child around his age.”

“Maybe it would. Be good for him, I mean.” Tooth said softly as she thought more on it. Maybe it would be easier for Jack to let his feelings go. Maybe talking to someone who appeared to be his age would help him.

“Yeah... I’m still trying not to laugh at the irony, mate.” And you could see that it was true. There was a grin that had planted itself right on Bunnymund’s face.

“Oh?” Tooth asked as she looked at the pooka; North smiled as he realized that their fellow Guardian had most likely found the very connection he had found. The one between Gwen and Jack.

“Ain’t it obvious? They both share a name.” He had noticed the same thing that North had. The realization brought an amused grin to Tooth’s face as well. Even Sandy was smiling about it.

“I wonder how Jack will take that news.” The only female Guardian giggled as she thought about it. Maybe North was right. Maybe this would be good for their youngest. 

Maybe he would find the irony of their shared last name amusing as well.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this random idea, so it just had my mind going in over-drive. Ever since I've seen the movie, I've been obsessed with it! Like, so much so I can't think of anything else... I even went to see The Hobbit, and when something was mentioned about 'Jackrabbits' my mind went other places.. 
> 
> Another thing that set this idea spinning - other than Gary, who happens to be my Muse - was a picture that I saw on facebook. 
> 
> This is also the first work that I've done for the movie. Hopefully I captured the characters well enough. *crosses fingers* 
> 
> I hope that you guys enjoyed it to the best of your abilities!


End file.
